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2,1915417 ARN Feb. 20, 1940. v. WOOLLEY MEANS FOR PRODUCING FUZZY ORIMITATION FIBER Y FROM CONTINUOUS FILAMENT YARNS Filed Jan. 18, 1939INVENTOR lgAsse-R Woo:

NEY

50 a guide Patented 20, 1940 TION FIBER YARN FROM FILAMENT YARNSCONTINUOUS Vasser-Woolley, Atlanta, Ga., assignmto Seydel- Woolley &Company, Atlanta, 6a., a copartnership of Georgia Application Januaryit, 1939, Serial No. 251,505 6 Claims. (o1. 57- -2) The production ofartificial'silk or rayon and similar yarn has developed extensively inthe past few years. The ordinary continuous filament yarn consisting ofa bundle of minute fibers how- 5 ever is smooth and too shiny for somepurposes.

In order to overcome the objection to the shiny surface it has beenproposed to break up the continuous filaments into short lengths andthen spin the short lengths in a manner similar to the ll} spinning ofother short fibers. It has also been proposed to roughen thesurface oithe continuous filaments sumciently to produce a fuzzy or imitationshort-fiber yarn.- The first method, however, involves a much greaterexpense and it dimculty in the production-of the finished yarn.-

My invention accordingly is directed to the roughening of the surface ofthe continuous filaments without materially weakening them or breakingup the bundle into short-lengths. German patent to Schulke No. 343,223discloses a process of roughening by abrasion. I have utilized thisprinciple-in a special manner so that the'continuous filament yarn ispassed over or through an abrasive guide which is vibrated as the yarnpasses over, through or across it.

One object of the invention is to produce a yarn that is'oi uniformtexture, good in appearance and of good breaking strength.

Another object is to provide a method that is 39 readily controlled.

Fig. 1 shows one form of mechanism for treating continuous filament yarnin accordance with my invention.-

Fig. 2shows another means for vibrating the 35 abrasive across which theyarn passes as it is being twisted.

Fig. 3 shows a third method of vibrating an abrasive guide for the yarn.

Fig. 4 shows still another method of vibrating an abrasive. It should beunderstood, however,

45 The invention as shown in Fig. 1 is applied to a conventional type ofring twisting apparatus in which the yarn 1 is wound upon a spindle 8driven in the usual manner. The untreated yarn passes betweenfeed rolls9 and i0 and through II and atraveler I! mounted on a rin support l3which is actuated in the usual manner.

The balloon guide II is provided on its interior with an'abrasivesurface I. This surface may 2 be formed by roughening the surface or theguide or by applying an abrasive such as carborundum, emery or the like.This guide is vibrated laterallyat high speed as the yarn passes throughit so as to alternately engage the'yarn on opposite sides as it twistsin passing to the traveler ring. This vibration may be eifected in anysuitable manner, as for instance, by means of the crank l and connectingrod It. It will be seen that any suitable form oftwisting machine may bereadily modified to provide for the toughening action desired by simplysubstituting a suitable abrasive guide and providing means for vibratingthe guide to and fro.

In the form shown in Fig. 2,- the abrasive member I! is vibrated byelectromagnet l8 havinga core it. Such a magnet may be actuated by analternating current or by using a. direct current with an interrupterand a spring 2%. In t form of construction, the abrasive by thevibration is moved diagonally with respect to the travel of the yarn sothat there are transverse and longitudinal components oi. the abrasiveaction.

In the form shown in'Fig. 3, the abrasive guide rin 2! is vibratedlaterally by a, m 22 and a spr ng 23, the guide ring having a shaft 2%and a roller 25 which engages the cam. The cam is rotated at a highrate'of speed so as to vibrate the guide 2i as the yarn passes throughit.

In the form shown in Fig. d, the yarn is drawn over a support or guide23 and acted-upon by a roller or wheel 27 having an abrasive surface.

This/wheel is rotated in any suitable manner and is vibrated by meansofa striker 28 which rotates against a roller 29 on the end of a rod 38which carries the wheel. A spring 3! presses the rod 30 and the wheel inone direction and the striker moves it in the opposite direction. Thestriker being rotated at high speed vibrates the abrasive roller backand forth so that it engages the yarn at intervals as the yarn travelsacross the guide 26.

In Fig. .5, I have shown diagrammatically an abrading member actuated byan electric motor 36 such as is used in an electric razor. This isapplied between the reed rolls 9, l0 and the guide 31 where the yarn istwisting. A guide such as II or M may be vibrated in the same manner.The effect of the vibration seems to be to breakup the periodicoscillations set up in the yarn. As a result some of the filaments areroughened and a fuzzy appearance is obtained without undue weakening oithe yarn.

thus causing quick, short, positive strokes by the abrasive or cuttingelements across the filament resulting in a better roughening.

. The rate of vibration or number of strokes o the abrasive per minutemay be varied as well as the length of the stroke so as to modify theaction of the abrasive in any suitable manner. By controlling the speedof movement of the yarn and the tension of the yarn various results maybe obtained.

It will be understood that I have illustrated the various forms ofvibrating devices as suggestive of the principle of the invention. Ihave found that the action of a vibrating abrasive is superiorto that ofa stationary abrasive. in

that a continually changing surface of abrasive is presented to the yarnas the yarn travels and.

is twisted. A stationary abrasive tends to become clogged andineffective and'in some cases tends to tear and destroy the filament orstrands of the filament. While a somewhat irregular fuzziness isdesired, the irregularity should not be so great as to damage thecontinuity of the .main body of the yarn. It is obvious also that anyactlon which results in the breaking of a bundle of filaments is highlyobjectionable. By my invention such difficulties are eliminated.

Although the idea of vibrating the abrasive seems quite simple, I havefound very marked improvements resulting from its use. For instance yarnwas treated by passing it through a guide provided with an emeryabrasive about 100 to 120 grit. In one set of tests the guide wasvibrated rapidly by short strokes longitudinaliy of the yarn, e. g., .1"to .2" at the rate of say 7000 to 14000 strokes per minute, such forinstance as may be produced by an electric razor motor. In the other setof tests the guide was held stationary;

Two samples of 150-60-0 acetate rayon were processed under the sameconditions (except as to the guide). The traveler used in running bothtests was #18/0 and in order to assure identical twist in each sample,both were run on the same spindle to produce a twist of approximatelyeight turns per inch. The same abrasive 'guide was used for bothsamples. The results showed that the yarn processed with the vibratingguide was more uniform in appearance, breaking strength and percentageelonga tion and had a greater breaking strength and elongation than theyarn processed with the stationary guide. Twenty-four tests were madewith the guide stationary and twenty-four with a vibrating guide withthe following results.

Yarn produced witl'Tthe stationary abrasive guide had a breakingstrength varying from 85 to 125 grams with a maximum variation of 40 andan average of 106.2. The percentage elongation varied from 7 to 14.50 or7.50 and with an average of 9.95. The vibration of the abrasive guideincreased the average breaking strength to 113.1 between a minimum of100 and a maximum of 130. Average percentage elongation was increased to10.65 and there was a variation from 7.50 percent to 13.50 or 6% only.

An important feature of the improvement is to produce a reasonableamount of fuzziness with a minimum weakening of the yarn. 'It isdesirable that at least some or most of the filaments of the usual rawbundle be scratched or broken at intervals but that the action be suchthat the interruptions in the-various filaments be distributed atirregular intervals along the length of the yarn. Some filaments may bebroken at intervals of say one or two inches, and others at intervals ofevery two or three inches. Some filaments may not be broken for severalinches. In this way itis possible to roughen all or practically all ofthe filaments and still retain desirable strength in the finishedtwisted yarn and yet produce the desirable appearance of fuzziness.

I have used the term rayon to include artificial filamentary substancesin general such as are used in the place of and with silk and otherfibers. Some viscose filaments are so tough or hard that very little ifany roughening can be I accomplished with stationary abrasives. ment bymy vibratory abrasive method however is quite eiIective. In fact thismethod may be employed successfully to give a fuzzy or nappyappearanceto almost any relatively smooth yarn with a minimum reductionin strength.

I claim:

1. In a yarn machine, a guide for the yarn having an abrasive surface,means for vibrating the guide laterally of the yarn and intermittentlyengaging one side of lengths of the yarn and means for winding andtwisting the yarn as it passes through said guide.

2. In a yarn machine, in combination, feed rollers adapted to receiveyarn from a source of supply, a ring for twisting the yarn and avibrator having an abrasive surface for intermit- Treattently andrapidly roughening the yarn simulof the .order of .1" to .2" at a rateof the order of several thousand strokes per minute and means forfeeding twisting filaments past this abrader. 4. The method ofroughening rayon yarn which comprises twisting abundle of continuousfilaments of rayon, feeding the bundle of filaments in a substantiallystraight line and while so feeding and twisting said bundle applying anabrasive to one side only of the bundle longitudinally thereof over adistance of the order of one tenth to two tenths of an inch at the rateof the order of several thousand strokes per minute. 5. The method oftreating a bundle of rayon filaments which comprises twisting the bundleand while the bundle is twisting applying an abrasive actionintermittently longitudinally of the bundle to that part of it which istwisting.

6. .In a machine for producing roughened rayon-like yarn, thecombination of.means for feeding a bundle of substantially continuousfilaments, means for twisting said bundle of filaments to form twistedyarn and means for inter-' mittently andrapidly applying an abrasive toone side of the twisting yarn while the opposite side is free so as toroughen some of the filaments of the twisting yarn.

VASSER WOOLLEY.

